diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 8e8e1ee3b0..26f12683b9 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -64,9 +64,15 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     exit(1);
   }
 #else
-  LAMMPS *lammps = new LAMMPS(argc,argv,MPI_COMM_WORLD);
-  lammps->input->file();
-  delete lammps;
+  try {
+    LAMMPS *lammps = new LAMMPS(argc,argv,MPI_COMM_WORLD);
+    lammps->input->file();
+    delete lammps;
+  } catch(fmt::format_error &fe) {
+    fprintf(stderr,"fmt::format_error: %s\n", fe.what());
+    MPI_Abort(MPI_COMM_WORLD, 1);
+    exit(1);
+  }
 #endif
   MPI_Barrier(MPI_COMM_WORLD);
   MPI_Finalize();